'Students forced to live in unsafe PGs': Opposition slams govt over Delhi building collapse

New Delhi: Opposition parties on Sunday hit out at the Centre and the Delhi government after a building housing a boys' hostel collapsed in the national capital, with the Congress terming the incident as "an avoidable tragedy" and asserting that every student's life is precious.

Cockroach Janta Party founder Abhijeet Dipke targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the incident and asked how long must students be made to pay the price for failing infrastructure.

The five-storey building in a congested bylane in Satya Niketan near Delhi University's South Campus collapsed this afternoon, leaving three students dead and many trapped under the debris, officials said.


Read more: Building was being repaired due to waterlogging in basement, say Satya Niketan residents; flag civic issues

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the building collapse is deeply distressing and "an avoidable tragedy".

"This tragedy also exposes the unsafe, overcrowded PGs students are forced to live in due to inadequate hostel facilities," he said. "Students come to Delhi to build their future, not risk their lives for a roof over their heads. Every student's life is precious."

Terming the incident as "extremely heartbreaking and alarming", Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said reports indicate that several people are trapped under the debris, including many students from Delhi University.

"My appeal is that NDRF, Delhi Fire Service, and all rescue teams reach every single student by making every possible effort, ensuring that the injured receive the best possible immediate treatment, so that no effort is spared in saving anyone," he said in a post on X in Hindi.

Read more: Delhi building collapse: CM Rekha Gupta vows action, 11 rescued from Satya Niketan site

"Students' lives were already filled with struggles, now the situation has turned life-threatening. Due to the lack of good hostels in colleges or universities, students are forced to live in PG accommodations, 40-40 at a time under one roof, in inhumane conditions.

"Every student's life is precious, and their protection must be ensured under all circumstances," he added.

The Aam Aadmi Party, the main opposition party in Delhi, asked the Rekha Gupta government to take "large-scale" measures to ensure public safety.

Alleging that several such accidents have taken place in Delhi due the government's "negligence", AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal called the Satya Niketan building collapse "extremely tragic and alarming".

"The government must wake up from its slumber. There is a need to take large-scale action to ensure the safety of citizens," the former Delhi chief minister said on X in Hindi.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj compared the incident to Saket building collapse. "In the name of audits, crores will again be looted from businesses, gyms, hotels, hospitals. Nothing will change."

CJP's Dipke on X said Prime Minister Modi visited Delhi University a day before and delivered a political speech and invoked the term "dimagi Naxal", but spoke little about the state of the country's educational infrastructure.

"Today, a hostel building in South Campus has collapsed, with students feared trapped under the debris. The number of casualties is still unknown," he said.

"Adivasi students are dying in tribal belts due to a lack of care and support, and even students studying in the national capital are not safe," he said, demanding safe classrooms, safe hostels and basic dignity for the students.

"Is that really too much to ask?" Dipke said, asking whether the prime minister would visit DU again and explain how the collapse happened.

Prime Minister Modi on Saturday addressed the centenary celebrations of the Delhi University's Shri Ram College of Commerce.

CPI general secretary D Raja blamed "government negligence, incompetence and corruption" for the building collapse and demanded compensation for the victims and a time-bound safety audit of all paying guest accommodations and hostels in the city.

In a post on X, Raja expressed solidarity with those killed, injured and trapped under the debris and their families.

Raja also raised concerns over the safety and accommodation of Delhi University students, saying many were forced to live in expensive and unsafe PGs due to inadequate hostel facilities.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra called the incident "shocking".

"I pray for the well-being of all. May God keep everyone safe. I appeal to the administration to expedite relief and rescue operations so that help can reach every victim in time," she said.

Congress general secretary K C Venugopal alleged that this is only the latest in a long list of accidents due to the "negligence" of the authorities.

"Under BJP rule, life has become too cheap, and the regime is clearly insensitive to the perilous conditions under which common citizens lead their everyday lives," Venugopal said.

Senior Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi said just a day ago, PM Modi was at Delhi University's SRCC for a carefully staged spectacle and speaking of its students and "today, at Satya Niketan near South Campus, DU students are trapped under the rubble of an unsafe PG building".

"If the PM truly considers himself a DU student, perhaps he should ask why building safety audits failed the very students who need the Government's protection most," Singhvi said on X.

Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said he stands with the families who have lost someone.

"Just this year, on May 30, the building that collapsed in Saidulajab had students preparing for exams among those who died. Therefore, the Delhi Municipal Corporation must disclose how many of the buildings around both DU campuses running PG accommodations have undergone safety inspections, and what issues were found in which buildings. This list must be made public building by building," Maken said in a post in Hindi on X.

Congress' media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said it is both haunting and moving to see the book, 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', recovered from the rubble at Satya Niketan, Delhi.

"It is a heartbreaking story of oppression, endurance, solidarity, love, sacrifice and hope. The novel follows the lives of women in Afghanistan. But its story belongs to the oppressed all over the world," Khera said.

Perhaps most poignantly, it belongs to India's youth - a generation "orphaned by a government that seems to care little for their dignity, safety or future", he alleged.

"May this cruel chapter of indifference and neglect end soon," he said.

Delhi Congress chief Devendra Yadav said the incident raises serious questions about the government's policies.